sports

Shakhtar Owner Gives $200k to Disqualified Ukrainian Skeleton Racer

Shakhtar Donetsk owner has donated $200,000 to Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych after he was disqualified from the Winter Olympics for wearing a helmet commemorating war victims.

The 27-year-old athlete was barred from racing at the Milano Cortina Games when the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation ruled that his helmet imagery depicting Ukrainian athletes killed since Russia's 2022 invasion breached competition rules on expression.

The donation from the Ukrainian football club owner equals the prize money Ukraine provides to its Olympic gold medallists, as reported by the club on Tuesday.